FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Head Coach Jen Fisher and the Colorado State softball team released its 2014 schedule on Monday, which features a home tournament in March, a full slate of Mountain West competition and six teams who appeared in last year’s postseason.

“We’re really excited about our schedule this year,” Fisher said. “We focused on finding teams who will challenge us and make us better, while hopefully boosting our RPI as we look to make a push for the NCAA Regionals.”

The Rams will play in five early-season tournaments, including kicking the season off Feb. 7 in Tempe, Ariz. While the Rams will not face host Arizona State, they will challenge Oregon State – a member of the Pac-12 – in addition to former Mountain West foe Utah and last year’s Big Sky champion Portland State.

Later in the month, CSU will face two more teams from last year’s NCAA tournament, including BYU and Tennessee, which was the 2013 runner-up.

“We see ourselves as an up-and-coming team, so we felt it was important to play top-tier teams to see how we stack up,” Fisher said. “Those games will also help us prepare for our Mountain West schedule.”

Included on the team’s 24-game conference slate are home games against Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico and San José State. The Spartans, new to the MW this season, won last year’s WAC title. The Rams will face Utah State, UNLV, San Diego State and Fresno State on the road. CSU has finished second to the Aztecs each of the last two seasons.

Additionally, CSU will host the three-day Colorado State Classic March 7-9, featuring Dayton, Northeast Omaha and Southern Utah. In April, the Rams will welcome UTEP for a three-game series at Ram Field, and just prior to that, will host Northern Colorado, part of a home-and-home series with the Bears.